Rob Ford improves his polling numbers as he moves into second place during rehab

Rob Ford, who has not campaigned or been to work for almost two months, will remain a serious contender for mayor when he returns to Toronto next week, a new poll suggests.

In a new Forum Poll, Ford has bounced back from a historic low earlier this month, and has moved past John Tory to only trail frontrunner Olivia Chow by seven percentage points.

In a five way race, Chow leads the way with 34% support to Ford’s 27% and Tory’s 24%. David Soknacki comes next at 6%, his highest level of support yet, and former TTC chair Karen Stintz is polling an anemic 3%. A total of 6% of the 890 respondents said they did not know who to vote for.

Ford improved seven percentage points over the last poll, where he had fallen to 20% support, but still faces an electorate that wants him to resign (58%). His approval rating, 32%, is by far the lowest of any major candidate and suggests there is little room for him to grow support beyond his core base in the campaign.

“With his return now imminent, interest in the mayor is beginning to grow, and with it, as usually happens, his approval. We’ll see if this is a temporary phenomenon, or a sustained surge which will carry him back into the campaign he left so abruptly,” Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff said in a statement.

Tory, a former radio host and Progressive Conservative leader, had the highest approval rating at 61%, followed by Chow at 57%.

Ford filed a leave of absence for his already-reduced role of Toronto mayor about seven weeks ago amid a new drug video and an audio recording of him making homophobic, sexist and racist remarks. He is attending rehab in Ontario cottage country, but has managed to stay in the headlines, particularly after a woman he apparently met at rehab was arrested for impaired driving while at the wheel of his SUV.

Councillor Doug Ford, his brother’s campaign manager, has suggested the provincial Liberal’s majority victory bodes well for their campaign, as it shows the electorate allows for second chances.

Ford is due to return to Toronto next Monday.

Since Ford has left the race, candidates in the mayoral race have been introducing the public to their proposed policies. Chow put forward a plan to add 200 kilometres in bike lanes, Tory has proposed turning 53 kilometres of rail into express trains and Soknacki has said he wants to ban downtown parking on major streets.

Soknacki’s plan has yet to win over many voters as the Forum poll says 58% disapprove of the move, although 31% support banning downtown parking on major streets.

Results for the Forum poll are considered accurate +/- three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.